In the recent past, the use of the Internet by businesses and individuals has increased dramatically. This increase has been spurred by, and has in turn driven, a similarly dramatic increase in the number of business and home computers which can connect to the Internet. These phenomena have revolutionized how information can be communicated from person to person. Text, images, and other types of information can now be rapidly transmitted by electronic mail (also known as e-mail) around the world, either from one person to another, or from one person to a number of others.
While word processing software on the computer is often used to create this information, it is not the only source of electronic text and information; a number of other electronic devices that generate text and images have become more widely available over the past few years. These devices include optical scanners, either stand-alone or included as part of a multifunction (scanner/fax/copier/printer) device, which can create an electronic image of the words and graphics on the paper or other media that is scanned. Such devices also include digital cameras which are capable of taking electronic photographs and can be connected to a computer or directly to a multifunction device for faxing, copying, or printing purposes.
Scanners, multifunction devices, and digital cameras are usually connected to the computer, which is used to store the electronic information these devices generate, and gives the user the option of sending the electronic information to others by incorporating it in e-mail messages. E-mail offers many benefits relative to more traditional ways of disseminating information. For example, in comparison to taxing information to only a single user, an e-mail message can be sent to a large distribution list of people. Similarly, digital photographs can be sent to a large audience, each of whom can print the photographs in the size, number, and at the time of their choice. Such users may even manipulate the photographs electronically, such as by cropping the images or adjusting their brightness or color settings.
In any event, before a user can send e-mail regardless of the source of the information, the computer must be properly configured for Internet access. In some situations, configuring the computer requires inputting a large number of arcane parameters peculiar to the computer network using unfamiliar computer utility programs. In other situations, a special configuration software package is supplied by the particular Internet Service Provider (ISP) who provides the Internet connectivity in an attempt to hide some of these complexities from the user. Large corporations often avoid burdening their employees with these complexities by delegating the task of configuring a computer for network access to specially-trained network administrators. Regardless of the approach taken, the configuration process is fraught with a number of potential problems and pitfalls.
Most digital cameras, like most film-based cameras, are relatively small, lightweight, and easily portable. Similarly, small-footprint and hand-held optical scanners are also available. However, requiring a computer as an intermediary to disseminate information via e-mail reduces their portability, adds to their size and bulk, and adds to the cost of an Internet-enabled system. It would be advantageous if there were a way to provide these devices with direct e-mail capability without an attached computer during normal operation. However, properly configuring such an Internet-enabled device would present the same configuration problems discussed previously. In fact, the configuration problem would be worse because scanners and cameras have limited user interfaces to enter and display parameters, and are unlikely to be able to run a computer's configuration software program. Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved Internet-enabled device and configuration method that permits the device to access the Internet for the purpose of sending e-mail communications without the need to be attached to a computer.